Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! I am a UK volunteer with voluntary service overseas and I'll be living in Rwanda in a small town called Nzige. Nzige is in Rwamagana district to the east of the country towards Tanzania.I'll be going out to Rwanda as an education volunteer to work on UNICEF's child friendly schools campaign. by teaching in a teacher training college and setting up a resource centre.

Friday, 28 January 2011

On lab coats and being mobbed

Well an interesting day to say the least. I spent most of the day at the TTC, I think I will have to leave the bank account opening for another day as I’m waiting for an electrician to come to install something called‘cash power’.

Today I found out that tutors at the TTC wear white lab coats to teach in and the trainee teachers wear uniform and have a master of discipline...Mind you I don’t think a master of discipline would go amiss in a UK teacher training college when I think back. I hope I get to wear a lab coat and return to my mad scientist days. It makes them look very smart although at the moment I can’t help but think its a bit bizarre. I was invited to watch a great lesson today taught by a tutor who has done work for the British council. It was a group debate and it gave me a few ideas of how to work successfully here. They did some beautiful singing in my honour too! By far one of my best moments in Rwanda so far. The students seem friendly and polite and I think they will be a joy to work with. Most of them looked to be around 6th form age in the UK. I have also been showing my face around the staff room to start to get to know the tutors.

I met with the methodology tutor I will be working with closely while I’m here. He is very helpful and friendly and has some really good ideas so I think we will work well together. He took me to the school next door where 2000 children go. The teachers were lovely but I could see the conditions looked more challenging than at the TTC as they have to contend with teaching very young children in English, very large class sizes, small rooms and having to operate a double shift where some children go to school in the morning where others go in the afternoon. I got totally mobbed too! I was totally surrounded. I don’t think an Umuzungu had ever visited their school. I also got mobbed at the market too. It felt very difficult to bargain for prices when literally about 100 people were watching my every move! I think I’ll be lazy and send Dan next week.